YPC of NYC Names Grammy® -Nominated Chandrika Tandon 2024-2025 Artist in Residence; New Work Soul Harmony Announced in Collaboration with NYSCA

Premiere and Performances to Commence in Spring 2025

NEW YORK (December 12, 2024) –The Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) is thrilled to announce Soul Harmony, a bold and transformative new project with Grammy® nominated artist Chandrika Tandon, who has been appointed YPC’s 2024-2025 Artist-in-Residence. Supported by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA ) Support for Artists program, Soul Harmony will premiere in Spring 2025, marking the culmination of a year-long collaboration with Tandon.

The announcement follows YPC’s beloved holiday concert, A Very Merry New York, held December 8 at Lincoln Center’s Geffen Hall, which featured the debut of Tandon’s new arrangement of Song of Light from her album Shivoham — The Quest.

“We are deeply grateful to NYSCA Support for Artists for recognizing the significance of this new project,” said YPC Founder and Artistic Director, Francisco J. Núñez. “Soul Harmony will transcend cultures, combining the beauty of Indian music with the diverse voices of YPC. Chandrika’s artistry has allowed us to explore traditions from the Indian diaspora in a way that enriches our own understanding of the world. Having her as our Artist-in-Residence for the 2024-2025 season is a tremendous honor, and we’re excited to bring Soul Harmony to life as an expression of personal journeys through music. Commissioning composers like Chandrika from around the globe is opening our ears to music that changes our way of seeing the world.”

Tandon shared her excitement about the collaboration. “I marvel at how Elizabeth and Francisco (Núñez) create such spectacularly holistic sounds out of hundreds of discrete voices”, said Tandon. “Watching their brilliant ideas come to life at the Winter Concert was breathtaking; the tapestry of diversity in multiple languages, with dazzling choreography and costumes, was stunning. I feel so privileged and grateful that they chose my composition Song of Light, to open their important concert – they captured the spiritual essence of the song so beautifully, and the children’s voices combined with the sea of lights was beyond moving. I am so proud to be part of YPC in some small way, and this also makes me so proud to be a New Yorker. I look forward to co-creating groundbreaking new works with YPC.  I want to express my deep gratitude to NYSCA for their support, Francisco and Elizabeth for their vision, and the children, for the joy and inspiration our work has brought me.”

Currently nominated for a Grammy® for her latest album Triveni, focused on healing New Age chants, Tandon’s Soul Harmony is centered around three themes – drawing inspiration from ancient Sanskrit texts and other mystical traditions, reimagining Indian music for harmonies with young voices, and creating musical harmony between Tandon and YPC with Eastern and Western orchestration. By presenting these themes through a rich and engaging musical narrative, Tandon and YPC aim to inspire audiences to reflect on their roles in fostering a more harmonious and compassionate world, starting with themselves.

Accompanying Tandon and YPC will be a string quartet, and Tandon’s frequent and longtime collaborators which include world-class Indian and global maestros.

Rehearsals will commence in April of 2025 and the work will premiere later in the year. The performances will spotlight YPC’s young artists as they represent the rich cultural, socioeconomic, and racial/ethnic diversity of New York City.

With the support of organizations like NYSCA Support for Artists, with whom YPC has been honored to work with in the past, YPC has commissioned and premiered over 300 works by some of today’s most influential and esteemed composers. This upcoming work with Tandon will further contribute to that distinguished canon.

For more information on YPC, please visit: www.ypc.org.

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About Young People’s Chorus of New York City

The Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) is a world-renowned multicultural youth chorus recognized for its virtuosity, showmanship, and innovative model of diversity. Founded by Francisco J. Núñez, a MacArthur Fellow and Musical America’s 2018 Educator of the Year, YPC’s mission is rooted in providing children from all cultural and economic backgrounds with exceptional music education and performance opportunities. YPC creates pathways for young people to succeed through the arts. The chorus has earned numerous honors, including a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, presented at the White House. Under the direction of Creative Director Elizabeth Núñez, YPC became the first North American choir to be named “Choir of the World” at the 2018 International Choral Kathaumixw. Since 2000, YPC has commissioned and premiered over 300 works by some of today’s most influential and esteemed composers. In 2023, YPC won five gold medals at the World Choir Games, including three world champion titles, and repeated this achievement in 2024, earning five additional gold medals across various categories. www.ypc.org.

About Chandrika Tandon

Chandrika Tandon is a business leader, Grammy®-nominated artist, and humanitarian, committed to elevating human happiness through music and education.

Her passion for fostering emotional well-being is focused on emanating love, joy, and transcendence through her music and artistry. She has released six studio albums, of which two have received Grammyâ nominations: Soul Call and Triveni.  Ms. Tandon has conducted numerous benefit concerts on world stages to sold-out audiences, including the Kennedy Center, Nassau Coliseum, Times Square, and Washington DC’s National Mall for hundreds of thousands of attendees of the World Culture Festival.

Ms. Tandon’s economic well-being efforts are focused on higher education and philanthropy.  She is the Board Chair of NYU Tandon School of Engineering and is the founder of Madras Christian College’s Boyd-Tandon School of Business.  Her foundation has established faculty chairs at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and Yale and Harvard Universities.  She is a member of the American Academy of the Arts and serves as a governor of the New York Academy of Sciences.

She has received several awards including the Gallatin Medal, NYUʼs highest honor, the Walter Nichols Medal for leadership and integrity, and the Polytechnic Medal recognizing her contribution to science and engineering. Ms. Tandon has been inducted into the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans, and has received the Maharishi Award in the areas of Celebrations and Fulfillment, the Americans for the Arts BCA Leadership Award, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and The Town Hall’s Friend of the Arts Award.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Laura Gigounas, Juliona Miller, Grecia Corleto, Tu Le at Glodow Nead Communications, YPCPR@glodownead.com